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Patent Model of Thomas Edison's Phonograph, 1877

This photograph shows the model Edison submitted with his patent application for the phonograph in 1877. The patent for the phonograph, one of more than a thousand awarded to Thomas Edison over his life, granted him the sole right to make, use, and sell his way of capturing sound on a cylinder covered with tin foil. Rival inventor Alexander Graham Bell would later improve on this technology, replacing the foil-covered cylinder with one made of wax. This resource is part of the Thomas Edison Collection.

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